Posted tagged ‘Deadstorm Pirates’

It hasn’t been long since we heard about Namco filing for a number of patents which were involved with stereoscopic 3D technologies and now we have word about the first game which will take advantage of those patents, a stereoscopic 3D version of their shooter Deadstorm Pirates. No details beyond a spring release and the use of the 3D technology in both the non-motion and motion versions have been announced(making the latter a “4D” game) but it comes at a time where Japanese arcade manufacturers are ramping up the development of such games as a way to attract more customers into amusement facilities. Konami’s Road Fighters, which will be released this month in Japan, is also mentioned in the article and they reveal that the user can switch the 3D effect off if they wish.

As for the new Deadstorm Pirates, I hope that they take the opportunity to add more arcade-exclusive content to the game since the title is now available on the PS3.

Most attention in the gaming world is being focused on E3 right now but that shouldn’t stop us from getting some news about arcades thrown out into the ether here.

I should have discussed this weeks ago but I missed out on it partially because I was on my trip. Namco’s newest PS3-powered light-gun shooter is now available in distribution, a game we have covered here several times known as Deadstorm Pirates. Having played it a few times at a couple of different arcade shows, it’s a fun and beautiful-looking game that has a large focus on co-op play and it is further set apart by the use of a wheel controller (which gives the game a sort of Lucky & Wild vibe to it, although the wheel is only used in certain events as opposed to 100% of the time). Here is a video of the ending to the game I caught at Amusement Expo in March. You can also visit the official page for the game here, be sure to keep an eye out for the game next time you visit a local arcade.

I wonder if we could eventually see a smaller version of this hit arcades, sort of like what they did with Razing Storm. At the moment there are two configurations of the game available, a motion-base version and a non-motion one. The non-motion one will be getting most of the attention in the US due to price but we did see a smaller, standup version of Let’s Go Jungle with mounted guns at a lower price than the “theater unit”, perhaps we could see something similar with DSP (not that Namco has indicated such a move, this is purely my own speculation).

UPDATE: Looks like Razing Storm is coming to the PS3 – Joystiq is saying Time Crisis is coming to the system but the screenshot they posted is definitely from Razing Storm(After looking a little closer the blurry screenshot says that the title of the game is Time Crisis: Razing Storm). We’ll have to wait and find out more as the source obviously doesn’t realize that this Time Crisis is apparently an arcade port. It’s not entirely unexpected but I did hope that we’d have a little more time before a port came along. Joystiq source ;

Kevin Williams sent me a link to a promo for Time Crisis: Razing Storm.

2nd UPDATE: Deadstorm Pirates already coming to PS3? I thought that the days of releasing home ports of arcade games a few months after the arcade release had passed us by but according to this post on Waxing Erratic, they already have Deadstorm Pirates listed as part of a bundle of games coming out for the new goofy light-gun on the PS3 which comes out in September. Granted the arcade experience is the way to go if you come across it but I still think that it is a bad plan to be bringing brand new arcade titles home when the arcade version has barely had a chance to make a name for itself. Of course, the strategy here could be that the home version is supposed to gin up interest in the arcade version(which isn’t new as we have a few home games that have been ported to arcades) but when they are asking operators to drop nearly $15k for a game that people can get for cheap on a home console, it’s harder to justify that arcade purchase. Very disappointing from the arcade side but I guess if you have a PS3 it’s reason enough to be happy and an easier way to come across the game.

Addendum: I should note that my criticism here is towards the console arm of Namco and not the arcade side. I doubt that the arcade guys are very happy about this and it wasn’t their decision to make as far as I know. At least Razing Storm has been in arcades for about two years (although is that enough time to pay off an $18,000 game and have it make a tiny bit of profit for the operator? the SD version which is half that price or less just barely came out at least) but releasing Deadstorm Pirates to consoles the same year as the arcade is a practice I really disagree with. On the flip-side, maybe this release will inform people of Namco’s new arcades and maybe they will go out looking for the superior arcade versions but that’s a maybe. I have noticed in coverage on this PS3 bundle that very few people realize that both Razing Storm and Deadstorm Pirates are new arcade titles, even the writers of the articles aren’t always pointing that out. Hopefully this bundle package will not leave any doubt about the games being ports (and why not include an online-enabled arcade finder feature to soften the blow for operators?)

Most attention in the gaming world is being focused on E3 right now but that shouldn’t stop us from getting some news about arcades thrown out into the ether here.

I should have discussed this weeks ago but I missed out on it partially because I was on my trip. Namco’s newest PS3-powered light-gun shooter is now available in distribution, a game we have covered here several times known as Deadstorm Pirates. Having played it a few times at a couple of different arcade shows, it’s a fun and beautiful-looking game that has a large focus on co-op play and it is further set apart by the use of a wheel controller (which gives the game a sort of Lucky & Wild vibe to it, although the wheel is only used in certain events as opposed to 100% of the time). Here is a video of the ending to the game I caught at Amusement Expo in March. You can also visit the official page for the game here, be sure to keep an eye out for the game next time you visit a local arcade.

I wonder if we could eventually see a smaller version of this hit arcades, sort of like what they did with Razing Storm. At the moment there are two configurations of the game available, a motion-base version and a non-motion one. The non-motion one will be getting most of the attention in the US due to price but we did see a smaller, standup version of Let’s Go Jungle with mounted guns at a lower price than the “theater unit”, perhaps we could see something similar with DSP (not that Namco has indicated such a move, this is purely my own speculation).

UPDATE: Looks like Razing Storm is coming to the PS3 – Joystiq is saying Time Crisis is coming to the system but the screenshot they posted is definitely from Razing Storm(After looking a little closer the blurry screenshot says that the title of the game is Time Crisis: Razing Storm). We’ll have to wait and find out more as the source obviously doesn’t realize that this Time Crisis is apparently an arcade port. It’s not entirely unexpected but I did hope that we’d have a little more time before a port came along. Joystiq source ;

Kevin Williams sent me a link to a promo for Time Crisis: Razing Storm.

2nd UPDATE: Deadstorm Pirates already coming to PS3? I thought that the days of releasing home ports of arcade games a few months after the arcade release had passed us by but according to this post on Waxing Erratic, they already have Deadstorm Pirates listed as part of a bundle of games coming out for the new goofy light-gun on the PS3 which comes out in September. Granted the arcade experience is the way to go if you come across it but I still think that it is a bad plan to be bringing brand new arcade titles home when the arcade version has barely had a chance to make a name for itself. Of course, the strategy here could be that the home version is supposed to gin up interest in the arcade version(which isn’t new as we have a few home games that have been ported to arcades) but when they are asking operators to drop nearly $15k for a game that people can get for cheap on a home console, it’s harder to justify that arcade purchase. Very disappointing from the arcade side but I guess if you have a PS3 it’s reason enough to be happy and an easier way to come across the game.

Addendum: I should note that my criticism here is towards the console arm of Namco and not the arcade side. I doubt that the arcade guys are very happy about this and it wasn’t their decision to make as far as I know. At least Razing Storm has been in arcades for about two years (although is that enough time to pay off an $18,000 game and have it make a tiny bit of profit for the operator? the SD version which is half that price or less just barely came out at least) but releasing Deadstorm Pirates to consoles the same year as the arcade is a practice I really disagree with. On the flip-side, maybe this release will inform people of Namco’s new arcades and maybe they will go out looking for the superior arcade versions but that’s a maybe. I have noticed in coverage on this PS3 bundle that very few people realize that both Razing Storm and Deadstorm Pirates are new arcade titles, even the writers of the articles aren’t always pointing that out. Hopefully this bundle package will not leave any doubt about the games being ports (and why not include an online-enabled arcade finder feature to soften the blow for operators?)

Here continues the tradition of not really holding to a tradition with the Arcade Heroes podcast with Episode 13. Kevin Williams of The Stinger Report joins me once again as we discuss

Amusement Expo 2010 and many games in detail – From the already popular Pac-Man Battle Royale to Terminator Salvation, Deadstorm Pirates, NASCAR Team Racing, Nirin, Go Go Grand Prix, Friction, Pump It Up Pro 2, DJ Max Technika, Marubot Football League, Wheel of Fortune, Panic Museum, Tippin’ Bloks and more

A little bit on the situation regarding ASCAP with music arcades like Guitar Hero

Arcade-related stuff that has happened outside of the Expo that I hadn’t had time to cover on the site yet or it happened when we were in Vegas

More details on that Midway surprise I mentioned on Twitter a few days ago and what it is exactly

While it doesn’t look like much, it goes on for nearly an hour and 45 minutes. Thanks to Kevin for joining me at my arcade via Skype and apologies for our listeners when Kevin was cut out inexplicably a couple of times (which I why I call this not too professional) and a kid stopped the recording on the computer I was using right at the end but I think we were able to salvage it there. Either way, you get probably more details out of this about Amusement Expo 2010 than anything else so I hope you enjoy it.

As I wasn’t able to finish uploading these video last night, I saved them for today along with this post. Namco had a strong presence at Amusement Expo and that was obviously dominated by the new Pac-Man Battle Royale (which you can see here if you haven’t already). But there was more at the booth than Pac-Man, which I’ll get into here.

As you can see with the video below, they had some recent games there which are already available for arcades to pick up, such as Nirin and Razing Storm. But Nirin has new software, which modified how the game works by shortening tracks and changing a few other things such as boosting and handling so the game is easier for your average player. Also with Razing Storm, while they didn’t update the software, they have a new 42″ cabinet that the game can come in at a much lower price than the deluxe edition. Another update was to Tank! Tank! Tank! – this actually wasn’t released to the US last December as originally planned as they have been tweaking the game for release and the improvements made to the game are all positive. One interesting feature is for the team-up-against-monsters mode. The game will switch off the enemies you battle on a monthly basis, i.e. one month the first level features spiders and the next it features bees and the month after that it flips back to spiders. The second level had the three-headed dragon and now it will flip between that and a huge octopus monster which can morph you tank into a small ink-spurting octo-tank. In addition to that there are new pic overlays that fit the tastes of the American market, and more importantly, new weapons such as the flamethrower. Apologies for not capturing these new features on film – I had fully charged my camera before the show but once I got there it suddenly dropped bars and it finally died while I was filming the Namco booth. (my apologies to anyone at the show where I wasn’t able to get video of your product, such as Incredible Technologies and PM studios).

First here is the overview of the booth where my camera died while filming Go Go Grand Prix. This is a very cool game that will be a great attraction for large locations.

Here is the ending of Deadstorm Pirates. I was walking by this while the girls playing were battling the end boss but I didn’t realize that until one of the Namco reps said they were on a special stage so I grabbed the footage. This game will be released in May and it featured the latest software build at the show, which not only included all of the levels but improved graphics as well.

Also a word on Dead Heat Street Racing. I talked with one of the developers about the game and I was able to get a pretty good idea about what the game will be like without seeing it. As I had mentioned on my Twitter, the game is going to be sort of like MaxiTune 3 in the US, with certain US city streets replicated for racing(Chicago was mentioned specifically). The game will let the player keep track of their stats on the machine along with a ghost racer that you can race later on. An interesting feature with the ghosting is that the game will record ghosts from everyone that plays the machine and then throw those into the game at random as the drones you race against. The game uses a modified version of the PC-based ES1 hardware, featuring a more powerful graphics card than the other Es1 games like Nirin and Tank! Tank! Tank! We’ll most likely be seeing more of this game in September, which is about the same time Pac-Man Battle Royale will be released.

Thanks to the guys at Namco for giving me the detailed rundown on all of these projects!

To begin our coverage of the 1st Amusement Expo which took place in Las Vegas, NV, I’ll start out with the Namco booth and work my way from there. Namco had a sizable booth that was near the entrance of the show (as usual) and dominating the booth was . We first reported the news that Namco would be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man with a new arcade release called Pac-Man Battle Royale. They had two cabinets at the show, cocktail style. While the game has intention of showing up in bars, it will work anywhere and it is not actually like Pac-Man CE at all, except for the graphics and changing mazes. You can see it below, the game has the player focus on eating the other Pac players. Eating dots and ghosts are sort of pointless not the primary focus of the game as in other Pac games and there is no scoring system aside from how many rounds each player wins but keep in mind that this is a prototype and there will be changes made to the game by it’s release in September. The cabinet will change too for the final release; they told me the hardware that it’s using which is a custom board and I can’t remember the name at the moment

I don’t have time to upload my other videos at the moment but I will be getting around to that later today Please check out there other videos I have from the show, I’ll have 12 of them up when finished which you can view on my Youtube channel. Pac-Man Battle Royale wasn’t the only new coin-op amusement product at the show so check out what else was there here. Also in anticipation of the release, if you need help finding an arcade/FEC/bar/etc near you (who you can pester into getting this or other games) check Aurcade.com or ArcadeFly.com

This is just a quick reminder that the new combo show of the AMOA/AAMA, better known as the Amusement Expo takes place this week, with the convention beginning on Wednesday and ending on Friday. I will be there to get some hands-on time with some of the latest video games that will be popping up in arcades around the world later this year, and I’ll have my trusty HD camera there to capture the action. Some of the games you can look forward to seeing:

Pac-Man Battle Royale

Deadstorm Pirates (full software version)

Let’s Go Island

Pump It Up Pro 2 /Fiesta

Go Go Grand Prix

and much more. Not every company has revealed their roster yet (such as Raw Thrills’ and GlobalVR) but I am sure we’ll see Terminator Salvation there since that it’s RT’s flagship title and I expect to see NASCAR Online although without confirmation that is only a guess. No clue if RT will have something new at the show although they generally show off new games in March. As for any other new content, unless there is an announcement tomorrow to reveal more, we’ll just have to wait and see.

If anyone wants to catch up with me I’ll be wandering around the show playing games and taking video, in either a black Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man shirt or a blue shirt with a giant Atari logo on it(depends on the day). I also hope to get some podcast content done there too so it should be fun. When AH is updated with new content depends on access I can get to a PC but I’ll see what I can do to get content uploaded as quickly as possible. I’ll be sure to update via Twitter and you can also check my Youtube page for updates as that is where videos will appear first.